


That part's awesome

by divenire



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 'Cause this is seriously fluffy, 1796 verse, But it doesn't matter because they end up kissing anyway, Did I mention this was fluff?, Fluff, I don't know anything about New York, M/M, So this is probably not super accurate, Tony makes Steve carry stuff so he won't be tempted to hold hands with him, lion cup, or the Zoo, tony wears a hat and glasses but people still know it's him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divenire/pseuds/divenire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(AKA Steve and Tony go to the Zoo) This fic goes with the 1796 Broadway 'verse. You can fully blame teaberryblue for this fic. And in particular for the part where Tony kisses the cinnamon sugar off of Steve's lips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That part's awesome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [teaberryblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaberryblue/gifts), [rainproof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainproof/gifts).
  * Inspired by [1796 Broadway](https://archiveofourown.org/works/972937) by [rainproof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainproof/pseuds/rainproof), [teaberryblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaberryblue/pseuds/teaberryblue). 



> This little fic is an alternate version of events from chapters 141/142 of 1796 Broadway, where Steve and Tony go to the zoo.

So far, they've had lunch at the Boathouse, gotten popcorn as they walked around the park, and now they're at the zoo. So far, it's been a pretty good day. Or at least Tony hopes it's been a pretty good day.

He knows one day isn't going to make up for... everything, but it's a good start, right? And it's not over yet. There's still lots to do. The whole zoo to look at.

Just past the gates, they pass this little gift shop and Steve stops to look in the window. There's a bunch of different stuff on display – hoodies, t-shirts, flags, frisbees, cups, mugs - basically every sort of object you could imagine being printed with something animal-themed, or shaped like an animal is crammed into the display. Steve points at a plastic cup with a garishly orange and yellow lion on the top, and snorts. Before Steve can even say anything, Tony says, “I'll buy you that.” Because why not?

Tony walks into the store before Steve can finish protesting that no, really, he doesn't need anything.

Once inside, Steve protests some more, this time stating, “You've already paid for everything else today,” even though he should know well enough by now that Tony isn't listening. And also, of course he did. Why would he not? 

Tony wanders around the store, looking for the cups he saw in the display. Instead, he finds t-shirts that say, “Central Park Zoo” on them in really big letters. “Okay, we have to have these,” he says. He flips through the pile until he finds his size and starts pulling it on. He's got it about halfway over his head when he hears Steve say, “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” Tony says as he finishes yanking the shirt on. He walks a few feet and finds a mirror. The shirt looks ridiculous, all bunched up and lumpy on top of the t-shirt he's already wearing, but he likes it anyway. “And I'm getting you one too,” he says.

“I'm not wearing that,” Steve says. Tony can see Steve standing behind him in the mirror, wearing the most disapproving look he's capable of expressing. It just makes Tony more convinced to buy one of the shirts for Steve. He walks back over to the shelf where the shirts are and starts looking through the already mostly destroyed pile. “What size are you, anyway?” he asks. 

“I'm not telling you that,” Steve says. Tony looks over to see Steve still standing by the mirror with his arms crossed. He takes a second to look at the bulging muscles in Steve's forearms, then looks back at the shirts. “Probably a large, right?” He picks a large from the pile and starts walking down the aisle, still wearing the t-shirt. Over at the till, the scrawny guy running the shop clears his throat. “Uh, sir?” he says, his voice squawking like he's a parrot. “Are you going to pay for that?”

“No,” Tony deadpans. “I was planning on stealing it.”

“Sir!” the guy squawks again. “You have to pay for that!" 

Steve sputters a laugh, but tries to hide it behind his hand. “Don't worry,” he says, all calm and serious, “we'll pay for it.”

“And what if we don't?” Tony says. He walks further down the aisle, picking up a few trinkets as he goes. “What's he going to do about it? We could just walk right out with this stuff, what would he do about it?” 

Steve, for his part, doesn't say anything, just stands there and gives Tony a look that could level a building.

“Fine,” Tony huffs. For good measure, he adds an eye roll. He browses the store until he finds the lion head cup he was looking for, grabs three, then another, and heads up to the front. He haphazardly plunks down everything he's found on the counter (minus, of course, his t-shirt) and stares down the guy behind the counter until he gulps. Audibly. 

The guy rings everything through and does his best not to look either of them in the eye. “That'll be... uh, seventy dollars and forty two cents, sir,” he says.

Tony puts down two hundred dollars and tells the guy to keep the change. “Uh, thank you?” the guy says, and Tony isn't sure if the guy is grateful, confused, or a mix of the two. Tony nods at the guy, either way. 

Once they're outside, Tony shoves the bags at Steve. “Here. Carry these, would you?” he says. He tries to be to clever about it, tries to act like he's just being his usual arrogant self, but the truth is that if Steve is the one carrying all the bags, then Tony won't be tempted to reach out and grab Steve's hand, like he's wanted to since they got here.

Steve takes the bags, two in each hand, and narrows his eyes just a little. “You'd probably injure yourself anyway,” he says. Tony opens his mouth to say something clever in response when Steve turns and starts heading for the aquarium. Tony snaps his mouth shut and follows.

After that they spend hours walking around, looking at all the animals. Tony's not much for animals, but he loves how excited and happy Steve is. He's not impressed by much, and he's not really sure if it's a side effect of being able to either buy or make anything he could possibly be even the least bit interested in, or if the general inability to be impressed was sucked out of him at some point, but Steve. He gets excited about everything. He doesn't show it in a big way, either. He's just, Tony can see it on his face. And that makes him happy. That Steve can be so easily impressed in a way, it impresses him.

Just before they leave, they stop at a food cart where Steve gets a cinnamon sugar pretzel and Tony gets cotton candy. Steve insists on paying, not that Tony lets him, but they spend a good five minutes arguing about it.

Eventually, after Steve gives up and lets Tony pay for the food, they walk over to a bench and sit down, leaving a pile of bags at their feet. Tony is sure that once they get back to the Tower, he'll set his things down somewhere and never see them again but he knows Steve will make a point of keeping everything. He thinks it's odd, that someone can care so much about the small stuff, but at the same time it's something he kinda loves about Steve. The way he appreciates everything.

For a while, they just sit there, stealing bits of each other's food and people watching. There's a couple sitting on the bench next to them, sharing french fries and looking inhumanly cute doing it. There's two teenagers, clearly ditching school, standing a few feet away from them and making goofy faces at the hyenas. Tony can see the way Steve is looking at it all, can see his fingers twitch with the urge to sketch the scene in front of them and he can't help but smile. He's about to offer Steve his napkin and a pen, it probably won't work as well for Steve as it does for him, but it's worth a shot – and then he notices Steve's face. And the cinnamon sugar all over it. It's everywhere. It should look ridiculous. On anyone else it'd look ridiculous. On Steve, though...

“Um, you have a little bit of...” Tony stammers and vaguely, he points at Steve's mouth. “You...” He waves his hand again.

Steve just quirks an eyebrow and swallows the last of his pretzel. He swipes at his mouth, but somehow manages to miss about ninety percent of it.

“No, right -” Tony points. Steve swipes again, does it badly and Tony shrugs. “You know, you're incredibly bad at that.” Tony leans in and brushes it all off with his fingers, then realizes what he's doing, how close he is, that his fingers are on Steve's face and there's a sudden surge of panic. He backs away for a split second, then without giving himself the time to think it over, he leans toward Steve and just... kisses him.

And Steve tastes like cinnamon and sugar and there are bits of sugar still caught on Steve's lip that are rubbing into his lips and it's not as nice a thing as he'd have thought, but Steve. He's kissing Steve. And that part? That part's awesome.


End file.
